Flow of cooling air in an electric generator model – An experimental and numerical study

The need for electric power is continuously increasing. The power output of existing electric generators is forced to its limit, and the new intermittent electric energy sources increase the variations of the operating conditions of the electric generators in the power system. This requires better cooling of the heat that is generated by the electric losses in generators. New experimental and numerical techniques need to be developed and validated, to increase the knowledge of the cooling processes and to improve the accuracy of the design tools. The present work focuses on the flow of air through electric generators, as a necessary and important first step towards future accurate and detailed convective heat transfer analysis.